Palm Pre Grabs Limelight Before New iPhone Rolls In

Apple calls the WWDC the “premier technical event” for developers and IT professionals working with Apple platforms, with more than 1,000 engineers gathering in San Francisco. The conference provides technical sessions presented by Apple engineers for operating systems for the iPhone and its Mac computer software, as well as hands-on labs and the Apple Design Awards.

Good reviews for the Pre

For today, the attention is on the Pre, which is expected to be difficult to get a hold of, with demand exceeding supply.

A few extra bodies may be filling the lines at registers, after reading reviews this week by The New York Times’ David Pogue and the Wall Street Journal’s Walter S. Mossberg, who both reviewed it favourably. Pogue called it “elegant, joyous,” and Mossberg wrote it was “thoughtfully designed.”

“Whether the Pre is better than the iPhone depends on your personal preferences, though I’d note that the new iPhone to be unveiled next week will have lots of added features that could alter those calculations,” said the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg in his review.

However, both men criticised the lack of applications and said Palm will have to very quickly attract third-party developers — which some insist won’t be very hard to do, explaining that the Pre’s WebOS operating system uses already familiar technologies, which will enable developers to get to work without delay.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse called the Pre launch also “a coming out party” for the new-and-improved Sprint, Reuters reported June 5. Some critics have expressed doubt about Sprint’s ability to help drive the Pre’s success. According to Reuters, Hesse told analysts on 5 June, “We’re a very different company than we were twelve months ago.”

The success of the Pre and the future of Palm are currently playing out nationwide in Sprint stores, at certain Wal-Mart locations, and at Radio Shack and Best Buy. At the latter, customers don’t have to mail in the rebate, but receive it on site, bringing the price to $199 (£125) with a two-year service contract.